ثُمَ لوطُ أَخو سَدّومَ أَتاها
إَذ أَتاها بِرُشدِها وَهَداها
Lot, brother of Sodom, came to it
When he came to guide and lead it
عَرَضَ الشَيخُ عِندَ ذاكَ بَناتٍ
كَظِباءٍ بِأَجزَعِ تَرعاها
The old man then offered his daughters
Like young gazelles, carefully raising them
غَضِبَ القومُ عِندَ ذاكَ وَقالوا
أَيُّها الشَيخُ خُطبَةً نَأباها
The people were angry then and said
O old man, we refuse this proposal
أَجمَعَ القَومُ أَمرَهُم وَعَجوزٌ
خَيَّبَ اللَهُ سَعيَها وَلَحاها
The people united and an old woman
May God foil her effort and erase it
أَرسَلَ اللَهُ عِندَ ذاكَ عَذاباً
جَعَلَ الأَرضَ سِفلُها أَعلاها
Then God sent punishment upon them
Making the earth's bottom its top
وَرَماها بِحاصِبٍ ثُمَّ طينٍ
ذي حُروفٍ مُسَوَّمٍ إِذ رَماها
And pelted it with stones then clay
Inscribed with letters, when He pelted it
مُنجِ ذي الخَيرِ مِن سَفينَةِ نوحٍ
يَومَ بادَت لَبنانِ مِن أُخراها
Rescue the benevolent from Noah's ship
The day Lebanon disappeared from its rear
فارتَنَّوَرُهُ وَجاشَ بِماءٍ
طَمَّ فَوقَ الجِبالِ حَتّى عَلاها
So it sailed and overflowed with water
Overflowing the mountains until it rose above them
قِيلَ للعَبدِ سِر فَسارَ وَبِاللَهِ
عَلى الهَولِ سِيرُها وَسُراها
The servant was told, “Travel”, so he traveled, and by God
His journey over the awe and its plateau
قِيلَ فَاِهبِط فَقَد تَناهَت بِكَ الفُلكَ عَلى
رَأَسِ شاهِقٍ مرساها
He was told “Descend for the ship has carried you to
The top of a towering, docking peak”
أَلا كُلُ شَيءٍ هالِكٌ غَيرَ رَبِّنا
وَلِلَّهِ مِيراثُ الَّذي كانَ فانِيا
Behold, all things perish except our Lord
And to God belongs the inheritance of what is bound to perish
وَلِيٌّ لَهُ مِن دونِ كُلِ وِلايَةٍ
إَذا شاءَ لَم يُمسوا جَميعاً مَوالِيا
He has guardianship over all guardianships
If He wills, they altogether perish in an instant
وَإِن كانَ شَيءٌ خَالِداً وَمُعَمِراً
تَأمَل تَجِد مِن فَوقِهِ اللَهَ باقِيا
And if something endures and lives long
Contemplate and you will find God above it, remaining
لَهُ ما رَأَيت عَينُ البَصيرِ وَفوقَهُ
سَماءُ الآِلَهِ فَوقَ سَبعِ سَمائِيا
Above what the seeing eye has seen and above it
The heavens of God, above the seven heavens
أَلا لَن تَفوتَ المَرءَ رَحمةُ رَبِّهِ
وَلو كانَ تَحتَ الأَرضِ سَبعينَ وادِيا
Behold, your Lord's mercy will not elude a person
Even if he were under seventy valleys
تَعالى وَتُدرِكُهُ مِن اللَهِ رَحمَةٌ
وَيُضحي ثَناهُ في البَرِيَةِ زاكِيا
A mercy will come and reach him from God
And his praise in the wilderness will be fresh
كَرَحمَةِ نُوحٍ يَومَ حَلَّ سَفينةً
لِشيعَتِهِ كَانوا جَميعاً ثَمانِيا
Like the mercy of Noah, the day he anchored
A ship for his followers - they were eight
فَلَمّا اِستَنارَ اللَهُ تَنُّورَ أَرضِهِ
فَفارَ وَكانَ الماءُ في الأَرضِ ساحيا
So when God ignited His earth with light
The water gushed on the ground, flowing
تَرَّفَعُ في جَريٍ كَأَنَ أَطِيطَهُ
صَرِيفَ مُحالٍ يَستَعيدُ الدَوالِيا
Rising in a stream, its humming
Like the humming of spindles retrieving treasures
عَلى ظَهرِ جَونٍ لَم يُعَدَّ لِراكِبٍ
سَراهُ وَغيمٍ أَلبَسَ الماءَ داجِيا
On the back of a vast expanse, not traversed by riders
Its plateau, and clouds that clothed the water, gathering
فَصارَت بِها أَيامُها ثَمَّ سَبعَةً
وَسِتَ لَيالٍ دائِباتٍ عَواطِيا
With it were days, then seven
And six consecutive, constantly rainy nights
تَشُقُّ بِهِم تَهوي بِأَحسَنَ إِمرَةٍ
كَأَنَّ عَليها هادِياً وَنَواتِيا
Breaking through them, plunging with excellent steering
As if it had a guide and harbors upon it
وَكانَ لَها الجودِيُّ نِهياً وَغايَةً
وَأَصبَحَ عَنهُ مُوجُهُ مُتَراخِيا
For it the generous had limits and bounds
And in the morning, its surging was slackened
وَما كانَ أَصحابُ الحَمامَةِ خَيفَةً
غَداةَ غَدَت مِنهُم تَضُمُّ الخَوافِيا
Those with the dove were not afraid
The next morning, it embraced the shores
رَسولاً لَهُم واللَهُ يَحكُمُ أَمرَهُ
يُبَيِّنُ لَهُم هَل يُؤنَسُ الثوبُ باديا
A messenger for them - and God governs His command -
Clarifying whether the dress will be friendly again
فَجاءَت بِقَطفٍ آيَةٌ مُستَبِيِّنَةً
فَأَصبَحَ مِنها مَوضِعُ الطينِ جارِيا
So it came back with an evident sign,
And from it the place of clay began flowing
عَلى خَطمِها وَاِستَوهَبَت ثُمَّ طَوقِها
وَقالَت أَلا لا تَجعَلِ الطَوقَ بالِيا
On its beak, and she begged and then her neckband
And said, “Do not make the neckband miserable
وَلا ذاهِباً إِنّي أَخافُ نِبالَهُم
يَخالونَهُ مالي وَليسَ بِمالِيا
Nor make it gone - I fear their arrows
Thinking it is mine when it is not mine
وَزِدني عَلى طَوقي مِن الحُلِيِّ زينَةً
تُصيبُ إِذا أَتبَعتُ طَوقي خِضابِيا
And add to my neckband, from jewelry, adornment
That strikes when I follow my neckband and dye
وَزِدني لِأَولاديَ جَمالاً وَزينَةً
وَيَهوَينَ زَيني زينَةً أَن يَرانِيا
And add to my chicks beauty and adornment
And let my adornment plunge to adornment, that they see me”
